Tribal leader goes undercover at Mohegan Sun casinos

Mohegan Tribal Council member Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum, a former council chairman, seen here Tuesday at Mohegan Sun, had to change his appearance to hide his identity on "Undercover Boss," airing Friday on CBS.

Mohegan - Whether he's wearing a business suit or the regalia of his beloved Mohegan Tribe, Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum has long been known to look the part.

But can he pose convincingly in biker's garb?

That's the question answered Friday night during the upcoming episode of CBS' "Undercover Boss," the Emmy Award-winning show in which corporate executives rub elbows with the people they employ.

For a reality show, "Boss" is pretty real, Bozsum said Tuesday.

Sure, he can laugh about it now. His hair's grown back.

Filmed here in late September at Mohegan Sun and at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the episode finds Bozsum serving drinks, parking cars, tending to slot machines and readying Mohegan Sun Arena for a concert.

At the time of the filming, the 53-year-old Bozsum was chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council and, by extension, head of the management board that oversees the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. He's since relinquished the council's top spot but remains a council member.

All during the filming, he had to hope no one would recognize him.

He needn't have worried.

Staff from the show experimented with his look in an hours-long session at Bozsum's West Kingston, R.I., home.

First, they trimmed his hair and added a moustache, but that wasn't enough. They shaved his head "a little," and that didn't do it, either.

He added a goatee and matching eyebrows, temporary tattoos - a spider on his neck and the letters R-O-A-D K-I-L-L on his knuckles - and earrings.

In Pennsylvania, the oldest of his eight children didn't recognize him.

Twenty-five-year-old Jacob Bozsum, a casino host at the Pocono Downs facility where Bruce worked as "a high-limit beverage server," passed right by his tray-carrying father a half-dozen times without noticing.

The elder Bozsum had to cook up a story to explain his presence and that of the cameras that followed him around.

He and his wife, Kelly, came up with an alter ego, "Sam Chefron," who hailed from Mason, Ohio.

Sam, the story went, was a game-show contestant with dreams of opening his own restaurant.

"I really had to stay in character all week," Bozsum said. "I was Sam."

Bozsum said he was amazed at how well many patrons know the casino employees who serve them. He hopes that connection came across in the show.

The extended Bozsum family will gather at home in Rhode Island to watch the episode for the first time Friday night. Many of Mohegan Sun's screens will be tuned to the same channel.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Mohegan Tribal Councilor Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum as he appeared during the filming of "Undercover Boss."